Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Groups call for immediate shutdown of South Texas nuclear power station in advance of continued Harvey flooding
BeyondNuclear.org | author | 08/28/17

... Beyond Nuclear and Texas watchdog groups Sustainable Energy & Economic Development (SEED) Coalition and the South Texas Association for Responsible Energy had called upon the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the operators of the South Texas nuclear power plant to put the reactors into "in its safest condition, cold shutdown" in advance of predicted flood waters that prompted Bay City authorities to declare a "mandatory evacuation" before emergency evacuation routes flooded.

The unprecedented rainfall in the region broke a U.S. continental record. The groups had warned that the NRC and the South Texas Nuclear Operating Corporation have previously recognized that there is a credible threat from a nuclear accident initiated by a breach in a 12-mile long perimeter embankment wall that surrounds the 7,000 acre Main Cooling Reservoir for the two reactors. ... Read more

Houston, Before and After Harvey | Times | 08/28/17 | 1:17

Fire Rages At Texas Chemical Factory
HP | Ryan Grenoble , Alana Horowitz Satlin | 08/30/17

... "There were different organic peroxides that were released and created a pop in the containers where they were stored," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. "Smoke initially emanated from it and that turned into black smoke."

... The factory lost power early Sunday, which it needs to refrigerate volatile chemicals. Those chemicals ignite if they get too warm, said the company's CEO, Richard Rowe. "Materials could now explode and cause a subsequent intense fire," Rowe said. "The high water that exists on site, and the lack of power, leave us with no way to prevent it." ... Read more

Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America by John Nichols

Donald Trump has assembled a rogue's gallery of alt-right hatemongers, crony capitalists, immigrant bashers, and climate-change deniers to run the American government. To survive the next four years, we the people need to know whose hands are on the levers of power. And we need to know how to challenge their abuses. John Nichols, veteran political correspondent at the Nation, has been covering many of these deplorables for decades. Sticking to the hard facts and unafraid to dig deep into the histories and ideologies of the people who make up Trump's inner circle, Nichols delivers a clear-eyed and complete guide to this wrecking-crew administration.

The reality beneath Trump's tax reform talk
Politico | Brian Faler | 08/31/17

While he emphasizes benefits to regular taxpayers, much of the push is about cutting corporate rates.

Trump argued that his plans to cut the 35 percent corporate tax rate for the first time in 30 years would benefit regular wage earners by putting more money in corporate coffers, which he said business leaders would then use to hire more people and raise wages.

But most economists say companies' shareholders would be the primary beneficiaries of a corporate tax rate cut. That's because it would make companies more profitable, which would boost their stock price while also leaving them with more money to pay out dividends.

The official Joint Committee on Taxation, as well as the Treasury Department and the independent Tax Policy Center, all say shareholders bear roughly three-quarters of the burden of the corporate tax, and therefore would be the main winners were it cut. ... Read more

Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer by Dean Baker

There has been an enormous upward redistribution of income in the United States in the last four decades. In his most recent book, Baker shows that this upward redistribution was not the result of globalization and the natural workings of the market. Rather, it was the result of conscious policies that were designed to put downward pressure on the wages of ordinary workers while protecting and enhancing the incomes of those at the top. Baker explains how rules on trade, patents, copyrights, corporate governance, and macroeconomic policy were rigged to make income flow upward.

Naomi Klein: Face It, the Flooding Disaster Is Climate Change
AlterNet | Amy Goodman / Democracy Now! | 08/30/17

The World Meteorological Organization announced Tuesday that Hurricane Harvey's devastation is linked to climate change. All past U.S. rainfall records have been shattered, and the devastating storm is expected to bring even more rainfall to Louisiana and Texas in the coming days. Still, the corporate networks have avoided linking the record-breaking storm to the climate crisis. We examine storm coverage with Naomi Klein, best-selling author of several books, including "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate."

Read more
*Naomi Klein's Message to the Media Covering Houston: Now is the Time to Talk About Climate Change | DN | 08/30/17 | 8:57

"Rapidly Intensifying" Hurricane Irma Barreling Straight Toward The East Coast
ZeroHedge | author | 08/31/17

... In a few days, the hurricane will be moving over warmer waters with light shear shown by all of the model guidance. This should promote further strengthening of Irma, and the NHC forecast shows an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane next week, similar to the solutions provided by the HWRF and the ECMWF models. ... Read more

Models show BIG CAT 5, Tropical Storm IRMA, to form in Atlantic and threaten the East Coast by next Friday 09/08/17

Would Impeaching Trump Truly Lead to Civil War? (#114) | Keith Olbermann | 08/30/17 | 5:46